


Day Five: “Luck is believing you’re lucky” -Tennessee Williams

by sparrowhaven



Series: Final Fantasy 14 Writing Challenge March 2021 [5]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: 31 Days Writing Challenge, A lot of them - Freeform, Arguing, Dual WoL AU, Gen, I'm not even kidding, Swearing, made for fun but this one especially so, tho they don't get much focus this time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-19 12:14:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29874498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparrowhaven/pseuds/sparrowhaven
Summary: The Warriors of Light take a break, only to get involved in a heated argument.
Series: Final Fantasy 14 Writing Challenge March 2021 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2190222
Kudos: 2





	Day Five: “Luck is believing you’re lucky” -Tennessee Williams

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is essentially a love letter to my friends by way of inserting their Final Fantasy OCs into the mix. Credits and links to my friends' pages and what their characters look like will be at the end.

One encounters many things on life’s journey. Particularly when one is not bound to the same rules that most people live by. Sometimes what one encounters is a particularly entertaining–if somewhat mundane–moment in time as one wanders through life.

Balthasar had been sitting quietly at a table to himself. The hood of his short cloak covered all except a few strands of his sandy hair and his staff was set on a wall next to him as he took in the atmosphere of the Drowning Wench. It was just past noon so the usual lunch crowds had died off, leaving some folk behind chit-chatting as the barmaids cleaned the now empty tables. He was people watching, which to an outside observer would seem impossible considering his blindness. That fact had yet to discourage him, though. 

The large doors to the tavern swung open and Balthasar turned his head to face the sound. Using a sense beyond sight, his lip curled slightly upwards as he observed (a passable if inaccurate word for what he was doing) the newest two midlander guests. One was tall, armor clad and bearing a shield on his back. His bearing was not nearly as confident as most others similarly outfitted. In fact, he seemed overly cautious of his surroundings though that did not prevent a minor stumble as he almost missed one of the steps leading into the main dining area. His companion was far smaller, though one would be mistaken in thinking she was the same height, for all she was able to keep the armor-clad one from falling on his face. Her outfit was a mix of leather and cloth typical of someone who uses magic in combat regularly. She was the more bold of the two, stepping smoothly around the people relocating themselves and leading her companion in something of a dance to attempt to follow suit. 

They barely managed to sit at one of the larger tables without injury, though it wasn’t this display that Balthasar was interested in. The color of ordinary objects escaped his “sight” and so didn’t matter to him nearly so much as the aether that he actually used to “see” his surroundings. These two individuals were like twin suns amongst the twinkling stars of the other patrons. Touched by Hydaelyn herself. The Warriors of Light.

Not for the first time, he was thankful for the cloth covering his eyes. He still couldn’t look at the two of them directly, but Balthasar could keep a metaphorical eye on them at least.

As he was busy contemplating how to potentially approach them, a steadily growing argument brought his attention to the people seated on the other side of the table that the Warriors of Light had sat at. It took a bit of concentration to focus on the speakers instead of the brightness at the edge of his vision, but he managed. Two lalafell–one significantly taller than the other, even while sitting–were talking with a young miqo’te woman who, from the sound of it, was on the verge of outright hissing at them. 

“Look I’m not sayin’ it ain’t _possible_ , all I’m sayin’ is that ya can’t just force luck ta work for ya like that.” The shorter of the lalafell, a male from his tone, snorted. “Luck’s just somethin’ that happens, that’s all. No controllin’ nothin’.” 

“Oh come _on_ ,” The tail of the miqo’te woman swished behind her. “You literally can’t say that when you’ve fucking met the best example of being lucky. It’s the _only_ explanation to why he hasn’t gotten killed yet.”

“Lowrey don’t count, Cat. _Especially_ cuz if that’s the case then it’d get cancelled out by Fortun’s lack of it.”

“It _does_ seem weird that he’d start a business when he’s got the worst every day luck I’ve ever seen in my life…” The taller lalafell, female in tone, observed. It seemed to be mostly for her own sake then to forward any conversation. 

“Then how do _you_ explain it, Ren?” The miqo’te woman apparently named Cat demanded. 

“I don’t know but it sure as shit ain’t somethin’ as stupid as ‘luck is believin’ yer lucky.’ He’s fed ya more bullshit an’ ya say ya don’t follow anythin’ he says but CLEARLY yer doin’ it.” Ren, the shorter lalafell jabbed a finger into the table in front of him to emphasize his point. 

“I dunno, it’s sound logic t’me.” Another patron spoke up. All eyes at the table (including those of the Warriors of Light) turned towards the speaker. She was another miqo’te woman, but compared to Cat her outfit spoke more of pirate than former street urchin. Not that there was any shortage of either in Limsa Lominsa. “Can’t tell you how many times someone I know ought’ve died and claimed to live thanks to a charm they already thought was lucky. If that’s not luck because of believing in luck, I dunno what is.”

Ren let out a frustrated groan. “Yeah but what about all th’ other times that ain’t life-’r-death when th’ charm _didn’t_ work? Like shit breakin’ as they sat or losin’ a job or th’ like? Ya wanna call _that_ havin’ luck cuz ya believe yer lucky?”

“My apologies for intruding, but I must concur with the gentleman here.” While the discussion had been happening, another midlander woman had made her way from her table to where the others were talking. She gave a short, polite nod at the sudden attention before continuing to speak. “Luck cannot be objectively observed, and so there is no reason to conclude that one can control the appearance of it merely by belief.”

“THANK you.” The relief in Ren’s voice was obvious.

“As such, it’s difficult to say that luck even _does_ exist.” The woman pushed at the ridge of her nose which Balthasar took to mean she was pushing a pair of spectacles back into place. 

“Luck _definitely_ exists, ma’am.” The pirate miqo’te woman cut in.

“I have certainly observed instances where the confluence of events have led to ultimately positive outcomes. I also do not deny that some people seem to attract more positive outcomes with seemingly no work put into the effort. Objectively speaking, however, it’s impossible to prove such a thing as luck exists. Preparedness for any eventuality is far more reliable.”

“Well _duh_ it’s more reliable but that’s not the fucking _point_!” Cat stood up from her seat to point at the woman. 

More people seemed to be drawn into the conversation like water down a drain, whether or not they were interested in also participating. The door opened again and Balthasar watched as an elezen woman in what appeared to be dancer’s gear strode into the Drowning Wench. She paused, cocked her head and seemed to listen for a few seconds before turning and avoiding the whole discussion by walking along the edge of the crowd towards the desk where the guild leves were issued. Within moments she’d received her assignment and left the building without a second glance behind her. No one else appeared to have noticed.

When he turned his attention back to the conversation, more folk were actively adding their voices to the chaos. The only ones who didn’t seem to be participating were the Warriors of Light. This didn’t last, as the lalafell woman from the start of it all turned towards them like a ship turns for a lighthouse in the dark. “You two’ve been pretty quiet this whole time.” She made a gesture at her companions, who had both gotten up though the lalafell man stood on his chair to attempt to be of the same eye level as everyone else. “Anything you wanna add about luck?”

Balthasar steeled himself to get a more direct look towards the brightness of the twin aethers. He “looked” just in time for the silhouettes of the two to look at each other and shrug. The female Warrior of Light said, “I dunno, I’ve always seen luck ebb and flow like the tides. One minute you’re celebrating a victory over a tough foe, the next a natural disaster happens.”

The male Warrior of Light said, “I mean, sure _I’ve_ made it through a ton of things by a hair, but I’ve never _felt_ lucky while doing it. Does that count?”

Before she could reply, the door opened once more, though this time with a bang. Balthasar, quietly relieved to have something else to focus on, took in the appearance of an older miqo’te man at the same time as the crowd did. He wore nearly all leather, with fur coming out of the collar of his jacket. The man was all swagger as he raised his arms to each side and declared, “Guess who’s the luckiest motherfucker on the planet?” 

Dead silence greeted him. 

The spell was broken when Cat slammed her hand against the table and growled, “You _asshole!_ The one time you could’ve been fucking _useful!_ ” After that, more chaos than even the previous discussion had garnered ensued. 

Balthasar smiled and continued sitting in his perch. He’d keep observing until the entertainment died down or the Warriors of Light had finally made their exit. Mundane though this scene was, it was yet another affirmation that life would always keep him guessing in spite of his vast amounts of time spent living.

How quaint.

**Author's Note:**

> [Balthasar ](https://thesilverdragoon.tumblr.com/post/642506616695062528/finally-a-ref-for-balthasar) and [Catrene Luvere](https://thedovahcat.tumblr.com/post/188803549480/only-one-time-of-face-exists-when-i-draw) (also known as Cat) as well as the briefly mentioned [Fortunato DeFleur (Ser Not-appearing-in-this-fic)](https://thedovahcat.tumblr.com/post/640262612579401728/commission-work-for-thedovahcat-i-dont-often) belong to [thedovahcat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedovahcat/pseuds/thedovahcat). Roger has also belonged to her from the beginning as a reminder.
> 
> [The pirate miqo'te lady](https://rowahn-xiv.tumblr.com/post/624548198622625792/so-dis-gal-is-back-may-be-looking-for-casual) is R’owahn and she belongs to [scoobydew4u](https://scoobydew4u.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [The polite midlander lady](https://hbellveil.carrd.co/) is Helena Bellveil and belongs to [chocolatebunnycake](https://chocolatebunnycake.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [The elezen lady](https://atalantasellecerre.carrd.co/) who (rightly) wants nothing to do with this nonsense is Atalanta Sellecerre and belongs to [corvusyn](https://twitter.com/corvusyn)
> 
> And last but certainly not least [the miqo’te asshole who’s late to the party](https://lowrey.carrd.co/) is A’ndru Lowrey and belongs to [clockworkpriest](https://clockworkpriest.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Rennis and Bailey Gatlin as well as Lara are all my babies, tho.


End file.
